Sepang, Malaysia – Hitech GP driver Rinus ‘Veekay’ van Kalmthout clinched the inaugural Asian Winter Series title in a dramatic season finale at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit. The ninth and final race of the three round series was won by Sri Lankan Absolute Racing driver Eshan Pieris who deftly stayed out of trouble to lead home Pinnacle Motorsport Frenchman Victor Martins, taking his second podium of the weekend, and Veekay.
Eighteen-year-old Pro Mazda Champion Veekay kept his cool to win the title by 29 points from closest challenger, Absolute Racing’s Ye Yifei of China. Ye’s championship aspirations ended after a challenge on race leader Jack Doohan ended with both drivers crashing out of the race.
In the final Asian Winter Series points standings, Veekay, who now embarks upon his first season in Indy Lights, topped the leaderboard with Ye in second. Third was Veekay’s team mate Ghiretti, who had remained in championship contention right up to the final round. Fourth was talented Japanese driver Tomoki Takahashi of Super License ahead of Hitech GP driver Pavan Ravishankar and Pieris.
B-Max Racing Team’s Tairoku Yamaguchi had already clinched the Masters title with one race in hand, while team mate Motoyoshi Yoshida, who joined the series from the second round onwards, finished second ahead of team principal DRAGON.
Hitech GP took the Asian Winter Series Teams championship from Absolute Racing, with Pinnacle Motorsport third ahead of Japan’s Super License.